Volkswagen Caddy 2011 review

Very impressed with the size and performance of this van.

It was so responsive to the throttle, I had to check with VeeDub just to make sure it was the 1.6 and not the larger 2.0-litre diesel engine. What a rocket ship!

The current Caddy moved from the Polo to the larger Golf platform in 2004 and has recently undergone a major upgrade across the range.

DESIGN

Externally the dimensions have not changed much but new engines, transmissions, and other refinements have produced a noticeable improvement.

Our test vehicle, the long-wheelbase Caddy Maxi commercial van, measures 4.876m long, 1.794m wide and is 1.836 metres high, with 1172mm between the wheel arches.

With sliding doors either side at the rear and a twin, barn door arrangement at the back, the

Maxi has a 4.2 cubic metre capacity and can carry a payload of 800kg, with eight tie down points provided.

Maxi has a 1500kg tow capacity.

We were moving house and did a pretty good job of loading this one to the gills, but it failed ot put a dent in the van's performance.

TECHNOLOGY

With a 1.6-litre turbo diesel engine, the Maxi produces 75kW of power and 250Nm of torque from a low 1500 revs.

Weighing in at 1510kg, with the 7-speed twin clutch DSG transmission fitted, it returns best in class fuel economy of just 5.8 litres/100km.

The 60-litre fuel tank gives it a range of just over 1000km.

We clocked up almost 500km with more than half a tank still to go.

There's not much to complain about.

DRIVING

The cabin seats two and there's plenty of stowage space in the cabin with an additional shelf overhead for putting things, that is often overlooked.

The high roof leaves a big gap between the rear vision mirror and top of the windscreen, and this can be a problem when you're driving into the western sun.

People who drive these vans for a living spend quite a bit of time behind the wheel each day and as such Bluetooth is needed.

There's an AUX input hidden in the glovebox for music players, but unlike other VWs that we have driven, this one can't display your speed in big numbes in the middle of instrument cluster either — a big oversight.

The Volkswagen Caddy Maxi TDI250 is priced from $27,990 or $30,990 for the auto as tested.

In standard form it comes with two airbags and electronic stability control.

Daytime running lights are now standard across the range, cruise control is also standard on the Maxi but an indispensable rubber mat for the cargo area will set you back another $490. Rear parking sensors — a good idea in this style of vehicle — is an additional $490.